Party payouts in poll season may contain fake notes, warn cops

During this election, the bundle of notes that unsuspecting voters accept as a token of appreciation, from party workers could be filled with fake Indian bank notes. Two days ago, the counterfeit currency wing of the CB-CID had seized Rs 10 lakh worth Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) from a Mannadi based gang and arrested three persons. 

It was one of the largest seizures of FICN in the last 10 years in Chennai and signals the efforts of the racketeers to push counterfeit notes into TN. Highly placed sources said the involvement of some political workers is suspected behind the latest operation as the money is being smuggled in to take care of ‘election expenses.’ FICN smuggling to Chennai dipped, after peaking during 2010. 

Due to efforts of agencies like Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the smuggling of FICN had come down in Chennai. But, sources admit that agencies could not practically do anything to prevent the circulation of the fake currencies that were already out in the market. 

“The latest seizure signals the revival of the hitherto silent FICN agent network in Chennai. In the latest case, the source of the consignment was Malda in W Bengal, which serves as the main supply centre of FICN to all parts of India. 

The same gang, which controls the FICN circulation in India is suspected to be behind this operation,” a senior CB-CID official told DTNext. 

Officials suspect the gang could have smuggled in several other consignments earlier and could have distributed them in the market. “Such rackets remain low when agencies are on alert. During elections, the movement of cash is monitored but they choose to circulate FICN during this season. 

This gives rise to the suspicion that political forces could be involved as the money could be easily ‘legitimised’ by spending them for ‘election expenses’,” sources said. “FICN, which are mainly produced by racketeers based in Pakistan, are smuggled to India through Bangladesh,” the official added.